Diggin It
by Calidiva
Summary: Find any stubborn spirits hanging around ancient Roman forts lately? Have you tried to convince said ancient spirit to go towards the light only to be glared menacingly at? Well, welcome to Emma Dawson’s world.


**Disclaimer- I do not own anything or anyone from King Arthur.**

**AN: This is my first story posted on so please let me know what you honestly think of it. I would also like to give a big big thank you to ****homeric**** for being a wonderful and supportive beta.**

**Chapter1**

"For five minutes!" He held up his hand wiggling his fingers around as if I was too stupid to understand what he was saying without the help of a visual "For five god damn minutes, Emma," he hissed, "could you not be you?"

"Can't do that," I said in between gasping breaths as I tugged non so gently on the luggage that I had been struggling with "promised my mom that I would never be someone I wasn't."

I could practically hear his eyes rolling at my comment but chose to ignore it because well, for no other specific reason other than he's my boss and mentor…and the reason he was currently angry with me was my luggage. Whatever genius said that suitcases with wheels were easier to work with was sorely mistaken because mine just happened to get stuck in every single nook and cranny the airport had.

I stopped struggling with my luggage for a moment to observe my tormentor, erm, I mean boss. He was tall, well taller than me (which isn't very), average in height by most people's standards. Bald; well I'm pretty sure he's bald because the "hair" that's on his head looks an awful lot like a bad imitation of Donald Trump's toupee. Anyway, he's average in height, oldish, has horrible fake hair, an average build and a very mean face which is permanently set in a scowl, and his sharp blue eyes are either laughing or glaring at me. All in all, James was your average cranky fifty year old man. Of course James would never ever claim to be average in anything. Oh no! That would be beneath him. James Garrison was a powerful man, well kind of. He was a respected British historian who became very interested in the study of Native Americans. He then emigrated from England and became a member of the Archaeological institute of America so that he could further his studies. It didn't take long for him to conquer that, because within six short months his innovative work became gospel.

Which leads me to explain what I'm doing working with such a creep. I went to school at New York University. I studied hard to be at the top of my class in Archeology so I would be selected to work with an excavation group. The top five in the class that got selected were guaranteed jobs. I succeeded in being selected and was beyond thrilled at having the opportunity to work with Dr. James Garrison. My time interning with his group was an incredible experience and I was extremely excited to know that I was guaranteed a job there. So, I graduated and became a member of the team only to find out that he had no hands on positions open and that I being the bottom rung of the ladder would have to settle for being his assistant.

"And this is my assistant Emma Dawson."

I blinked back the memories of all the dreams I had been forced to bury away and smiled politely at the pretty blonde woman who stood before me. She reached her hand forward and I accepted it shaking it politely "It's nice to meet you."

The woman eyed me disdainfully and then pulled her hand back from mine "Diane Wormann, director of Vindolanda Trust" she replied as she discreetly wiped her hand on her pants.

I watched as she sauntered back towards him with her perfect size 2 body, more than a little annoyed that she had found my appearance so repulsive that she had to wipe it away. I looked at my reflection in a nearby taxi surreptitiously. I didn't look nearly as bad as she made me feel; there was nothing hanging out of my nose or in my teeth, my brown hair wasn't up in a big fancy french twist as hers was, but it was clean and straightened…I didn't look unprofessional. As for my outfit well after being on a 15 hour flight you really couldn't expect my suit to have been wrinkle free and I did my best to buy a darker color so that it would hide my pudgier parts, which mother always said was unflattering, but hey its not like I'm huge I'm a size 12. I hmphed silently _and here I thought I'd be getting away from superficial people._

"Does your assistant often do that?" I heard the faint German accent and looked up from the taxi to find two pairs of eyes on me, one belonging to the perfect blonde the other to my boss who looked aggravated.

"Which one, space out or look at her reflection in taxis?" James questioned

The woman eyed me a moment longer before turning her attention towards the driver that stepped out of the limo, she said something in German to him which sent him swiftly off to grab my bags, which of course, he had absolutely no problem moving. "Check her reflection in taxis."

"Um hello." I walked closer to the pair, "I'm right here."

They ignored me. "No, she doesn't often care about her appearance."

"That is a shame." She looked me over once more "Once you two are settled perhaps I can take her out to do some shopping? Our company is much esteemed and well I don't want us looking like…" She pointed vaguely in my direction. "Especially when the excavation will be so very well covered by the TV stations."

That piqued my curiosity. I knew that the company had called James because it was an important excavation, but I wasn't aware that it was so important that TV stations would be interested. I took a deep breath to push down my annoyance at the pair talking about me like I didn't exist and politely interrupted them "I had no idea that this excavation was going to be documented on television."

Diane blinked and then looked towards James who also shook his head as to say that he had no clue it would be televised either "Perhaps we could discuss it in the limo, it is very cold out here."

I nodded and followed the pair into the car, relieved that I was no longer the centre of attention.

"Well as I am sure you are aware of the site we are digging on?"

James turned to look at me motioning for me to take notes on this. Unprepared, all I had was a napkin I had taken from when we had our in flight meal which tasted like cardboard and had done absolutely nothing to curb my hunger. Ignoring the glare I knew I was receiving, I looked towards Diane smiling at her to continue.

She cleared her throat and placed both of her hands on her lap "We are digging at the Roman fort called Vindolanda."

I used my knee as the solid surface I needed to scribble down the name of the fort on the napkin and then looked back up to her.

She looked almost disappointed that we didn't seem at all excited over the name of the fort "Let me try to explain it this way, King Arthur and his knights were supposedly stationed there."

I disguised my giggle with a cough, which apparently I didn't do very well because she stared at me "I'm sorry," I offered somewhat lamely, "But tales of King Arthur are mostly just that, tales. I'm sure he was based off of a real individual, but you don't really believe that he along with his knights existed do you?"

Diane turned her attention towards James, an unreadable expression on her face. "Do you believe this as well?"

I shifted my gaze towards James who I knew shared the same belief I had. "Of course I don't, I've always thought Arthur was real." I gawked at him and Diane smiled smugly at me.

"So then the television stations are interested in us finding artifacts from King Arthur and his knights?" James asked.

She shook her head and laughed merrily. "Why of course not, no one cares about silly little artifacts, we're looking for something much bigger. Something more like King Arthur's tomb."

It was James' turn to gape at her "With all do respect, even IF Arthur and his knights were stationed there it doesn't mean that he died or was buried there. Surely you understand that getting television stations involved isn't the wisest of things to do- especially so prematurely in the excavation."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Doesn't the term "Al Capone's vault" mean anything to you?" I laughed at my own joke, which no one joined in on "I mean c'mon, we all know how that turned out."

Diane pushed her blonde bangs out of her eyes and spoke calmly "I was aware that you Americans are very outspoken," she glanced pointedly at me "I however had no idea that you were such cowards however. It's such a shame James that you have become so Americanized."

"What, cowards!" I sputtered outraged "Americans are not cowards! We do things that aren't cowardly. We happen to be the most uncowardly country in the world". I puffed up my shoulders "Cowardly we are not, right James?" I looked to James who seemed to be slinking back further in his seat almost as if he was trying to disappear. "Right James?"

She leant forward and pressed the button that lowered the window between us and the driver. "Well if you're not interested I have others who would be more than happy to risk being involved. I'll just tell the driver to turn us around so you can get a flight back."

"Wait."

We both looked at James who seemed to have suddenly discovered his spine "That won't be necessary."

The blonde woman looked confused "But I thought you weren't interested?" She was an evil thing, I thought mutinously. Maybe James didn't see what she was doing, but it was written plainly on her face she that she was playing us…well him, using his giant ego to get what she wanted. And now she was playing dumb and acting all cutesy and confused and I _so_ wasn't buying it.

"I never said I wasn't interested, I'm just a little concerned regarding the television crews."

Diane pushed the button and the window went back up. "But you said you believed King Arthur existed."

"And I do." He nodded firmly, so firmly it almost seemed as though he was convincing himself. "But I don't know if he was buried there, and to get television involved could be disastrous to my reputation."

She leaned closer to James and I'm sure it was an _accident _but ample cleavage was showing "Or it could be very advantageous to your career. Just imagine all the glory you could receive for finding the legendary King Arthur… All the fame, the money…" she scooted closer to him almost whispering in his ear. "The women."

"Oh please," I muttered under my breath "I'm going to be sick."

She pulled back from him, her eyes sparkling in amusement "You get car sick?"

_Oh yea you hussy, _I thought. _I get real car sick when you prostitute yourself off to my boss, I'm sure I'd get sea and air sick too, given enough time. _"Not usually, but I'm feeling it right now. Maybe it was the long flight?" I offered, hoping that they'd take the excuse.

She looked out the window and smiled "Well then, I guess it's lucky we are here."

I followed the pair as they exited the limo, the bright sunlight causing me to squint. As soon as my eyes became adjusted to the light I immediately took in the incredible sight that stood before me. It was a fort, or what was left of a fort. It seemed a little rundown but it was in better condition than they other one that lay further off in the distance. All that remained of that one was the foundation. I watched as a group of volunteers scuttled past me, roping off the first area so that we could go into the first stage of the fieldwork; which roughly consisted of metal detectors and visual survey methods. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a man fully decked out in ancient clothing watching the volunteers as I just had been, he must have noticed me looking at him because he turned towards me and our eyes locked.

"Emma!"

I looked away from the man for a moment and turned to face James who was pointing towards a tent that had been set up. I nodded in understanding of what he wanted me to do and quickly turned back to look at the man, but he was no longer there.

"I didn't know you had actors decked out in ancient garb here," I said as walked into the tent nodding a hello to the five new people who sat inside with Diane and James. "It really sets a nice mood for the dig."

Diane looked at me as if I had two heads sprouting out of my neck "We would never hire actors to dress up, that would be incredibly tacky and we want the television stations to take us seriously not make fun of us."

I shook my head to clear it and held firmly onto my smile despite the strange looks I was receiving. "But I saw a guy dressed up". No one looked convinced. "Maybe it wasn't someone you hired, maybe it's a fan all dressed up and excited for the dig," I offered, trying to salvage a little of my reputation. 

"That's impossible," Diane began as she looked down at the map that lay before her. "I have this site closed to any sort of civilians."

"Yes, well maybe he sneaked onto the site because I'm sure that I saw him."

A look filled with suspicion was leveled at me "Are you still feeling ill from the ride here?"

I would have rolled my eyes at that ridiculous statement but didn't feeling like getting into a fight with Diane anytime soon. "No, I'm not feeling ill…and even if I was I doubt that it would affect my eye sight."

"Very well." She said with a sigh as she pushed the map further away from her "Did anybody else see this person?" She turned her attention towards the other occupants in the room and I smiled smugly knowing that I couldn't have been the only one to see him, because well he stood out like a sore thumb. Of course I was wrong wrong; every person in the tent shook their head all muttering how they hadn't seen anyone that looked like that.

"Emma" began James as he walked towards me his usual sharp eyes filled with concern "Maybe you should go get some rest. I'll call you a taxi to take you to the cottage where we are staying."

I was ready to argue, to tell them all that they should go outside and have a look for themselves, but for once James was right- I was exhausted and didn't have the energy to fight. I nodded wearily and stepped outside of the tent muttering an excuse about being overly exhausted to the other occupants of the room as James made the arrangements to call my cab.

I sat on a bench set up outside as I waited for the taxi to pull up and it was then that I saw him again. The man was further away but I could still see perfectly that he was there. He wasn't in Roman garb-it was more Mongolian looking than anything "Excuse me!" I called out as the figure turned its attention towards me "This site is closed, I'm gong to have to ask you to le-" He vanished…he vanished right before my eyes "Oh my god, I'm going crazy," I muttered to myself.

Or was I? Something told me that this trip was going to be a lot more interesting than I had originally thought.


End file.
